Welcome to Wonderland
by Astoradreams11
Summary: She was content; hidden away within a forest, surrounded by life on all sides. They would talk to her, keep her company, wished her to feel happy and at ease. She loved them, and they loved her - but then one day, the forest thought, perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to share...
1. Chapter 1

Part I

_[Hiraeth: the feeling of longing for a romanticized past, or; a mixture of nostalgia, longing, wistfulness and yearning]_

Toothed wooden sandals clicked against the stone path winding throughout the glade. Fireflies appear in the footsteps wake, blinking their bulbs happily as they followed a small girl through the circular dell. They circled around the outskirts with the child with pale and gentle features, and the girl smiled as she bends over to stroke the head of a red fox mother about to return to her den for the night. The moon cast a white glow upon her face, and along the grass and flowers and tree trunks, illuminating the clearing, making the abundance of flora and fauna shine as if wet with liquid moonlight. The world was getting ready to sleep, flowers folding up, animals hiding away in their homes, rivers slowing and lakes stilling once the crickets began to chirp their nightly song. The cicadas slowed their buzz, nearly asleep themselves.

She spun around around the stones and mushrooms and flowers, stepping confidently like she had every path through the meadow memorized. She passed the oblong pond where gold and white and black fish swam gently, getting ready to rest for the night. She circled around the the bushes lining the pond and gently hopped over a small stream twisting through the grass, before stopping in front a small hill. She turns on her heel and falls onto her back, head angled just right to stare up at the moon with wide sapphire eyes.

She twirled the loose string of her white-speckled obi around her fingers, and watched as clouds passed by the moon, hiding the stars only to move and them once more. Her smile softens to something a little more melancholy, and she closes her eyes, letting the pale moonlight wash over her, listening to the sounds of a sleeping forest.

A small snap of a twig makes her jump, and she sits up, eyes wide, and turns her head to see a young boy with wild black hair staring right back at her.

"Hello," She said with a small smile, and the boy struggled to return it. He was distracted as he met her gaze, eyes flickering off behind her at the small glade, and she giggled, gesturing for him to enter further.

"Pretty, isn't it? I found this place when I was young," She stood, gently brushing off invisible dust and readjusting her obi to rest properly around her waist once more. He was looking around the glade with undisguised awe, and she smiled, knowing the feeling. The glade truly was beautiful.

She grinned merrily, and skipped over to him, pulling his hand and by extension, him, further into the grassy dell. She guided him over the streams and around the flower bushes. Across the mushroom patches and blankets of clovers until they were standing in the very centre of the clearing, facing the circular opening he wandered in through. The fish pond sparkled brightly in the corner of their eyes, making the boy glance over to it every so often as they stood there.

"What.. are you doing out here?" He asked after a long pause, and she smiled.

"What are you doing out here?" She shot back, and snickered when his face scrunched up in a frown. He huffed, and looked away.

He glanced back, and the girl had her face turned back up to the stars, so he copies her and does the same, dipping his head to face the black expanse of empty space. His bangs fall to the side, revealing rounded cheeks and eyes as black as the night. The tiny pinpricks of light twinkle, almost as if in greeting, and he felt a small smile creep onto his face.

"...what's your name?" He asked, not looking away from the night sky.

A small firefly landed on her shoulder, and she raised a hand to let it crawl onto, pulling her gaze from the stars to look at the stargazing boy. The moonlight captured his face, highlighting the bridge of his nose and rounded jaw. His pale skin gleamed in the watery light, making him look like he was glowing. She was vaguely reminded of an old story her grandmother told her when she was a baby, about a man who ruled the moon… didn't he have black hair and eyes as well? It was so long ago, she couldn't remember...

"It's rude to ask for another's name before giving your own, you know," she teased softly, and he huffed, crossing his arms and shifted his weight. She poked his forehead with a smile and he glared at her.

"Madara," He stated, then looked away, and she grinned.

"Hoshiko."

""Star child"?" Madara inquires, and she sits on the grass, patting the spot next to her, and he sits. It was a nicer spot than the small hill, you were able to see how the flowers and bushes shine with the moonlight, and how the small pond filled with sleepy fish shone as if it were day thanks to all the fluorescent algae lining the sides and bottom.

"Pretty, isn't it? Grandmother said my mother always loved the stars, that she would have liked the name." She leaned back and closed her eyes.

"It is. Has a nice ring to it," Madara agreed, gaze wandering back to the sky. There was something entrancing about the stars and clouds and moon in this place. Anywhere else, any other time and he wouldn't have thought twice about the night sky, but here it drew you in and didn't let you go, he felt.

"Are you always this sweet, Madara-san?" Hoshiko nudged him in the side, and he stuttered.

"Yes! Who do you take me for, a heathen?"

Hoshiko laughed, and he felt his face warm. He did not mean to sound so defensive, not at all. He raked his hand through the soft tufts of grass, enjoying its cool texture.

She held a hand up to her mouth and tried to calm herself, eyes shining with mirth. Wiping her eyes, she turned back to the boy. She saw his embarassed expression and gave him an apologetic but guilt free grin.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me," She said, and he looked away again. "I shouldn't have laughed at you,"

"...it's fine," He replied, and stood abruptly.

Hoshiko watched as he straightened his clothes, and gave her a small, yet genuine smile, and she returned it. She stood as well, balancing perfectly on her single tooth sandals.

"It's late, you should head back to the compound," Madara said, and she looked to the position of the moon, noting that it was late. Later than most people would be awake. She felt like all the energy had left her body in that single moment, and yawned widely.

"I don't live at the compound, Madara-san," Hoshiko smiled, and Madara stared at her, indecisive. If she didn't live at the compound, then she wasn't an Uchiha. She was an outsider. He liked her though, so he chose to ignore her words, simply nodding to acknowledge them.

"You should hurry back, it wouldn't bode well if your father catches you out after dark," She smiled, and walked him to the entrance of the dell. Madara smiled faintly at her, more of a twitch of the lips than a smile really, one hand on a tree trunk. She shooed him away with her hands, and he huffed, jumping off into the trees and disappearing from sight.

Behind him, Hoshiko walked back, sandals clicking upon the stones and laid back against the small hill to watch the stars. The trees closed behind Madara, roots and branches twisting together, hiding the entrance to the glade away from the world.

"Come back soon, clan heir. The forest has much for you to do."


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

[ Retrouvailles: the happiness of meeting again after a long time]

Years passed and Hoshiko did not see Madara again. The glade opened for her at night and closed again as she waited, and still Madara did not show. She was disappointed, almost. Someone was finally welcomed inside her home in the forest, and yet, it seemed the world didn't want him here. She sat on the edge of the pond with a heavy heart, water lapping gently at her ankles. The moonlight shone down on her as she kicked her feet back and forth, disturbing the fish as they swam in circles around her toes and they swam away closer to the centre of the pond.

Like that night so many years ago, a twig snapped near the hidden entrance to the glade, and her head shot up, hope bright in her eyes. Familiar black hair and eyes greeted her although they looked older and… sadder, somehow. He hadn't changed much, and she could never forget the soft smile of her first friend.

She stood quickly, nearly tripping as she skipped over to the boy's side. He grinned at her, and she beamed back. He looked the same as all those years ago, illuminated in the moonlight the same as back then, just as pretty.

She slowed when she noticed he wasn't alone, and not even five feet away from her old friend, she stopped completely, staring at the tall brunette standing slightly behind Madara.

"... Madara-san," She began, a frown making its way onto her face, "who is this?"

Madara smiled at her. is head turned and gestured to the newcomer, who grinned hesitantly yet brightly at her.

"This is Hashirama." Said boy gave a wave, "I told him about the glade and he wanted to see it."

Hoshiko didn't know what to make of the boy. He was tall, that was for sure, and the plants seemed to buzz and animals light up in elated greeting as he neared them. The whole dell was alive at the sight of him, so much more than it was for her. She stared into his brown eyes, searching for what made them love him more than her. She didn't find anything. was he anything like the gruff, awkward disposition that Madara had, or was he soft and happy like her?

... No, he was something else. She didn't know what, but she wasn't sure she welcomed the freakishly familiarity that came with his presence. It was a new feeling, and it scared her.

She turned on her heel, and walked back to the pond. Standing on the steps, she spoke without looking back.

"Leave."

Madara was at a loss, and Hashirama looked confused and a little disappointed as well.

"You know this place is special to me." She stated, still not turning around. "You don't come for years, and you have the nerve to bring an unknown here? The forest seems to love him but I do not. Leave."

Hashirama lit up at the mention of the forest, and he grinned as if he didn't hear the part about her wanting him to leave.

"You can hear the forest too?" Hashirama grinned, walking quickly up to her, startling her as he laid a hand on her shoulder. He was surprised for a moment, but then he remembered that Madara had told him she was a civilian. Or, at least, thats what Madara thought. Hoshiko had never shown any hint of formal, or informal, training in those nights he spent with her playing in the glade. She didn't even know the games he grew up playing as a child. Although now that he's thought about it, the games he was brought up with always did something to improve your memory, tracking skills or dexterity.

Hoshiko slipped out his grasp and deftly stepped over a cluster of butterflies resting on a bunch of white flowers. Hashirama followed her as she went, scampering through the grass in a one-sided game of tag. Madara watched off to the side, bewildered. Every time the two children made contact, flowers would bloom underneath their feet. The pair didn't notice it, of course. Hoshiko was focused on being left alone and Hashirama was focused on catching the girl and getting answers to his questions. The fireflies flickered around them and the grasshoppers chirped to an unheard of decibel.

"Leave me be, will you?" Hoshiko shouted finally, startling the fireflies and butterflies and grasshoppers and fish.

Hashirama shook his head, and sh crossed her arms and growled.

"Yes, I can hear the forest. Yes, I can understand them, and no I don't know how!" She stepped over a shallow creek, leaving the persistent boy on the other side. Hoshiko stared him down, blue clashing with brown, and then flickered her eyes over to the quiet boy still standing on the edges of the trees. She sighed softly, turning her face up to the stars, and sat, patting the ground next to her just like she did on the day they met. Both Hashirama and Madara quickly obeyed and sat on either side of her, watching the stars with her.

"... I've always been able to hear them," Hoshiko whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence of the chilly spring night. "Ever since I was little, they would whisper to me… 'come home' they would say. 'We're waiting for you'."

Hoshiko turned to Hashirama, and he watched her face like he was entranced, and she figured that was what she looked like when she saw Madara for the first time, that night.

"Can you… can you control them?" Hashirama asked, hesitantly. Hoshiko smiled.

"...No, I can't," She shifted so she was laying with her back against the soft grass. "I can ask them to do things for me, but I don't command them. They seem to like me, and have saved me from injury many times,"

Hashirama seems thoughtful. He hymned, and no one said a word more. The trio laid on the grass and flowers, and Hoshiko felt something click into place, something she never knew was unaligned. She smiled, feeling whole for the first time in a very, very long time.

The two boys left without her that night, Hashirama with an orange and yellow crown of lilies and Madara with a crown of red and white marigolds, and a sense of rightness in their chests. They were meant to be there that night, Kami knows why, but they weren't going to question that feeling.

Back within the flowering clearing with the crystal blue pond and buzzing fireflies, Hoshiko mused on how long it will take until Madara returms once more... until both return once more.

Her heart felt heavy.


End file.
